Mandalay Hill

For many, the name Mandalay evokes a mythical Kiplingesque idyll. In reality, Myanmar’s second city is a buzzing, fast-developing metropolis, its streets full of honking traffic. It contains some of the country’s most cherished attractions – sweeping hilltop panoramas, 19th-century teak monasteries, and the reconstructed royal palace – and serves as the river-bound gateway to the ancient temple-city of Bagan.